1.4e brought the siege and battle icon notifications on the map. While a welcome addition, combined with the "news log" that just abstractly assumes we hear about everything happening no matter how far in the other corner of the map seems a bit... off. It also means there's that less incentive to seek out other parties, or NPCs, simply to get some fresh word about current events.
For starters, why not add some kind of "messenger post" upgrade option to castles and towns, and have the tier of its upgrade dictate how far away the player will receive the news? Aside from that, settlements and map roaming parties of any kind, as long as not outright hostile, should be the main source of any information.
Towns in particular deserve implementation of a "town crier," both as a strategic-map interaction option, and an in-scene character. To avoid wasting too much of player's time, implement this in such a way that it opens up a single pane listing all the notable events and potentially ongoing or future situations (such as tournaments announcements) in one place. For those who prefer less abstract interaction, add a dialogue option that cycles through various announcements.
Lords and caravans should be a major source of information, as well - the later likely retaining their current focus on trade information, but since both sieges and settlement occupations affect the economy, a good source of those.
Instead of having an abstract trading perk revealing pricing, why not make it affect just how accurate information the caravan trader actually provides regarding pricing? Preferably as an alternative to simply paying them for that information (which should, at that, come at lower accuracy than something charmed out of them).
Villager parties should, at worst, give some idea about goods offered nearby and their prizes, or information about potential problems (quests).
You could easily use this concept to implement a bunch of varied early-level quests solely revolving around delivering some form of information to a desired individual (with potential involvement of opposing parties wanting to prevent that at any cost).
Information is power. Access to information, I think, would be much better handled by adhering to historical reality, where it wasn't just something universally available, but potentially a valuable commodity on its own.
For starters, why not add some kind of "messenger post" upgrade option to castles and towns, and have the tier of its upgrade dictate how far away the player will receive the news? Aside from that, settlements and map roaming parties of any kind, as long as not outright hostile, should be the main source of any information.
Towns in particular deserve implementation of a "town crier," both as a strategic-map interaction option, and an in-scene character. To avoid wasting too much of player's time, implement this in such a way that it opens up a single pane listing all the notable events and potentially ongoing or future situations (such as tournaments announcements) in one place. For those who prefer less abstract interaction, add a dialogue option that cycles through various announcements.
Lords and caravans should be a major source of information, as well - the later likely retaining their current focus on trade information, but since both sieges and settlement occupations affect the economy, a good source of those.
Instead of having an abstract trading perk revealing pricing, why not make it affect just how accurate information the caravan trader actually provides regarding pricing? Preferably as an alternative to simply paying them for that information (which should, at that, come at lower accuracy than something charmed out of them).
Villager parties should, at worst, give some idea about goods offered nearby and their prizes, or information about potential problems (quests).
You could easily use this concept to implement a bunch of varied early-level quests solely revolving around delivering some form of information to a desired individual (with potential involvement of opposing parties wanting to prevent that at any cost).
Information is power. Access to information, I think, would be much better handled by adhering to historical reality, where it wasn't just something universally available, but potentially a valuable commodity on its own.